Central Florida man who tried to purchase child dies in jail

A Florida man who made headlines in August when he tried to purchase a child from a horrified mother has died in police custody.

Port Orange resident Hellmuth Kolb, 85, died Thursday after suffering a “medical episode” at Volusia County Jail two days earlier, according to sheriff’s officials.

Kolb was taken into custody last month after he reportedly approached a woman at a local Winn Dixie and offered to buy her child. At the time, he was on probation after being convicted of attempting to buy another child -- who he grabbed and kissed -- in 2018, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

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